Comics Explained: Black Widow

Black Widow, thanks to her regular appearance in Marvel movies since Iron Man 2, has made her one of Marvel's best known heroes. Debuting in Marvel's soar to supremacy over the comics industry in the 1960s Black Widow has become one of Marvel's major characters - she's appeared in most major Marvel-wide events, been part of the Avengers, dated Daredevil, and even led SHIELD. Today we'll give an overview of the main Black Widow, Natasha Romanova, and some of her appearances. I would also highly recommend watching Variant Comics' video on her here for some recommended reading. 

Creation

Black Widow was co-created by Stan Lee himself in a story written by Don Rico, and drawn by Don Heck. Her original design was quite different from her now iconic design - she had black, middle-length hair instead of her long, red hair, and she wore dresses/cat-suits instead of her black costume with wristbands. Arris Quinones from Variant Comics has pointed out how her design bore a stark resemblance to that of Catwoman from the Batman TV show - this show was incredibly popular and had a major impact on comic books. As a result, Black Widow was a Catwoman-esque femme fatale, although sexism of the period meant that even if there was no Catwoman in Batman, she would likely have been created as a femme fatale. Black Widow debuted in 1964, during the Cold War, so the paranoia associated with the Cold War resonates in her story. Natasha Romanoff, later Natasha Romanova, first appeared in Tales of Suspense #52 in a story straight out of an Ian Fleming novel. Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow, was sent by the KGB to capture industrialist Tony Stark, and to assassinate defector Anton Vanok, the first Crimson Dynamo. Allied with fellow spy Boris Turgenov, who had his own Crimson Dynamo suit, they got into Stark Industries. Natasha tried to seduce Stark as Boris went to kill Anton, but it went wrong. Stark realised the plot and used gas to escape from Natasha, while the Crimson Dynamo shot Boris's suit blowing it, and him, up. A few issues later, Tales of Suspense #57, she encountered the incredible archer, Clint Barton aka Hawkeye, who was wrongly accused of robbing a jewelry store. Teaming up they fought Iron Man, and this initial team-up would set the stage for a long history together. 

Origins

There have been several contesting origins for Natasha Romanova, which have actually been worked into her character. With a contested past which she herself doesn't fully know it very much fits into her whole character arc. Her original origin, from Daredevil #88 from 1972, has her being saved by a Russian soldier Ivan Petrovitch during the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942. Ivan raised the baby as his own daughter, that is until she is picked up by the Soviet authorities who trains her to be a super-spy and a ballerina. The KGB even got her married to another operative, Alexei Shostakov, until he became the new Red Guardian, and she was told that he 'died' so she wouldn't go after him. When Black Widow got another solo title in 2005 her origins were retconned; her original story was still quasi-canon, but it became consumed in the brainwashing which she experienced. A fire broke out in a house in Stalingrad in 1928, and a dying mother passed her baby daughter to Ivan Petrovitch. However, Petrovitch wouldn't be able to solely raise the young Natasha. Instead, she was taken and inducted into the 'Black Widow Program' where she and another 28 young girls were taken to the 'Red Room' to be trained. In the Red Room they would be brainwashed in order to become efficient spies, trained to become deadly fighters, and bio-technologically and psycho-technologically enhanced. This way her ageing was extremely slowed so, by the 2010s and 2020s, she still looked like she was in her thirties. These enhancements also made Natasha reach peak physically fitness that a human can have without being classed as a superhuman. During her training she also met Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier.

Joining the Avengers

After her debut Black Widow was an antagonist of several Marvel characters as she tried to take down Iron Man to win back favour with the KGB. Some of them had her fighting alongside Hawkeye, and fighting against Spider-Man. Her superiors brainwashed her again in Avengers #29 to use other villains to wipe out the Avengers, but in the next issue she shook off the brainwashing and helped her former foes. In Avengers #32-33 to prove herself to the Avengers, and to a reformed Hawkeye whom she started seeing, she helped the team fight a fascist group called the Sons of the Serpent. The Avengers were willing to accept her, but there was an issue. The Avengers had a no killing policy, something which has since changed to an extent, and, as she refused the have the same policy, Natasha was not made a full Avenger. Instead, she was made a 'reserve' Avenger - while affiliated and fighting alongside the Avengers Natasha was not a formal member of the team. While this was happening she continued having romantic interests with Hawkeye forming a 'power couple' in the media of the Marvel Universe. Imagine Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie just fighting aliens and robots. While part-time with the Avengers the head of SHIELD, Nick Fury, would approach her to become an agent of SHIELD. This began a long history of Natasha Romanova being a member of the super spy organisation, and at times she would even lead the group.

In The Amazing Spider-Man #86 from 1970, with her popularity increasing, Marvel decided to give her a costume re-design. Gone was the Catwoman inspired outfit. She now had her iconic long, red hair, and a black suit with accompanying wristbands. Called her 'Spider Bites' the wristbands could release tasers, tear gas pellets, explosives and knock out gas. Accompanying that, Natasha was still physically deadly being an expert marksmen, a master in various hand-held weapons, and knew various fighting styles ranging from jiu jitsu to sambo. Throughout the 1970s she would be a member of SHIELD taking missions to disrupt organisations, like Hydra, and allying herself with 'street-level' heroes, like Spider-Man. In 1970 she somewhat got the first of several solo titles - The Inhumans and Black Widow. This comic was split into two, with half focusing on stories about the Inhumans by Jack Kirby and the other half focusing on Black Widow by Marie Severin. However, the comic didn't last long. After the eighth issue Black Widow was dropped, and two issues later it was cancelled altogether. Meanwhile, she continued fighting for social justice issues. Writer Les Daniels, in 1971, noted how Marvel used her Left-wing upbringing to fight for oppressed people in the US. This was a greater reflection on how Marvel started moving away from the fairly conservative Comics Code Authority which restricted what comics could or could not write about. Among her adventures she helped Puerto Ricans fight against police brutality and hippies against organised crime.

Daredevil and the Champions

In Daredevil #81 in 1971 Black Widow started teaming up with Daredevil, this was during a time when he had started to become an alcoholic. She helped him start to recover, and the two formed a romantic relationship. They actually made comic book history by being the first romantic couple in comics, who weren't married, to cohabit. The Comic Codes Authority had frowned upon non-married couples living together, so, as soon as the Authority's influence started to wane, Marvel jumped at the chance to experiment with stories. It was during this period that Black Widow began helping oppressed people, part of which was facilitated by Daredevil. Although Daredevil has regularly become involved with the Avengers he is very much a street-level hero; with Natasha regularly appearing alongside Daredevil this gave her the chance to tackle real-world issues. Marvel also decided to tackle misogyny. Natasha became angered by how Daredevil kept on trying to protect her; quite ironic considering that she was a near-superpowered super-spy. As a result, in 1975 she left to go to the West Coast, and she co-founded the Champions in Champions #1. This was a smaller version of the Avengers, based on the East Coast, consisting of Black Widow, the former X-Men Iceman and Angel, the Spirit of Vengeance Ghost Rider, and the literal god Hercules. In their debut they teamed up to stop the Greek/Roman god of war Pluto from taking over Olympus. However, the team did not last long. They were bankrolled by Angel's fortune, and, unsurprisingly, funding a super team is expensive. Due to bankruptcy the Champions had to fold - in real life sales were low so Marvel canned it. Since then the Champions have occasionally reformed, and characters have regularly made fun of it. In the 1990s Iceman called it an embarrassment...

2000s - Marvel Heavy-Hitter

After the folding of the Champions in the 1970s Black Widow remained a big Marvel character, but it was largely through appearances alongside the Avengers, SHIELD, and Daredevil. That is until the 2000s. Black Widow, especially since the resurgence of her own title which began in 2004, has become such an important character in Marvel - she has played a major role in most of Marvel's universe-wide events. In her own title, her past came back to haunt her. After seeing her husband, again, (he was constantly believed dead and turning up alive), she retired to Arizona until the other Black Widows were soon being found killed. It was here that we found out her new origin. Natasha had to hunt down who are killing off the other Black Widows, and avoid being killed herself. In 1999 we were introduced to another Black Widow who was also trained in the Red Room - Yelena Belova. The two have since had a somewhat antagonistic relationship - while occasionally working together they have an intense rivalry. Later, she took part in the Secret War event. Supervillains had somehow been getting new, improved weaponry, and Nick Fury found out the new leader of Latveria was using the master engineer Tinkerer to fund American supervillains. She went on a covert mission with Fury, Luke Cage, Wolverine, Daredevil, Spider-Man, and Daisy Johnson to take her down. During the Superhero Civil War she sided with Iron Man, and when Norman Osborn (the Green Goblin) took over SHIELD she knew that he would use it for his own means. Osborn formed his own Avengers, and hired Yelena to be his version of Black Widow. However, it wasn't Yelena - it was Natasha. 

Death and Resurrection

In 2017 the Secret Empire event happened - you might remember it from the now infamous image of Captain America saying 'Heil Hydra'. For my sins as a comic fan I have still yet to read Secret Empire, so most of this next part is what I've learnt from later comics and general discussions. To basically summarise, Captain America has been replaced by a copy created by the Red Skull manipulating a Cosmic Cube - this version lived a life where he had been raised by Hydra. A fascistic Captain America helped Hydra take over the US, so many heroes formed a resistance called the Underground. Black Widow, however, was angry at the Underground for not adopting more direct, and lethal, methods. Following the events of Civil War II the new young heroes re-formed the Champions, and they followed Natasha with the hope to talk her out of killing Cap. She decided to train the Champions in order to fight, and they went after the fascist doppelganger. However, trying to protect Miles Morales she was killed by the evil Cap. Because comics there turned out to be a clone with all her memories. So, as usual, comics ended up reversing the emotional impact of death for characters and readers.

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Comics Explained: Galactus

Created by the legendary pair Stan Lee and Jack Kirby Galactus is one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel Universe. The only beings more powerful are the beings which literally embody aspects of the universe, or the universe itself. Galactus is if a hurricane had the powers of a god - a natural force beyond concepts of good and evil with the ability to create and destroy. Does to his popularity Galactus has made a regular appearance in comics since the 1960s with him appearing in many major events, even just briefly, ranging from Infinity Gauntlet to Age of Ultron. First, we need to see why Galactus was created by Lee and Kirby.

Creation

In his biography of Stan Lee Bob Batchelor has described the 'Marvel Revolution' of the 1960s as being a slightly fraught time despite successes. Marvel's owner Martin Goodman was only interested in profit, so he kept a close eye on comic sales, and if a genre started to dip he would pull the plug. Lee and Kirby knew how fickle the comic market could be, so they experimented a lot with characters and concepts with the view that Goodman could cancel it at any moment. As a result, writers at Marvel were eager in the 1960s to experiment with storytelling because otherwise they might not have another chance. This led to the creation of Galactus. Lee was interested in creating an ultimate villain, one which potentially was beyond good and evil. Kirby was smitten with the idea, and can be credited with creating what would become Galactus. Looking for inspiration for a villain, and his heralds of destruction, Kirby turned to the Bible:

My inspirations were the fact that I had to make sales and come up with characters that were no longer stereotypes. In other words, I couldn't depend on gangsters. I had to get something new. For some reason, I went to the Bible and I came up with Galactus. And there I was in front of this tremendous figure, who I knew very well because I've always felt him. I certainly couldn't treat him in the same way I could any ordinary mortal. And I remember in my first story, I had to back away from him to resolve that story. The Silver Surfer is, of course, the fallen angel. When Galactus relegated him to Earth, he stayed on Earth, and that was the beginning of his adventures. They were figures that had never been used before in comics. They were above mythic figures. And of course they were the first gods.

DC fans might notice that this inspiration may have shaped the later New Gods when Kirby was writing for DC. Anyhow, the duo planned to go all out with Galactus creating which would become known as the 'Galactus Trilogy'.

The Galactus Trilogy

The trilogy would begin in Fantastic Four #48 debuting in March 1966. The Fantastic Four had always been used to investigate Marvel's space and celestial stories, and the comic opens with their enemies, the Skrulls, desperately trying to hide their planet from the angelic Silver Surfer. The Fantastic Four are visited by a tall, bald humanoid calling himself Uatu the Watcher. Watchers are an ancient and near-immortal race which vow to watch the comings and goings of the universe, but Uatu could not resist interfering in the events of Earth. It turns out that Uatu had been manipulating the planet's atmosphere with the hope that doing so it could hide Earth from the Heralds of Galactus. The Heralds are scouts who find planets for Galactus to consume, and his most famous one is the Silver Surfer. The Surfer arrives but is knocked out by the Thing, only for Uatu to inform the Four that it is too late. Galactus has arrived. The comic ends with the mighty Galactus declaring 'My journey is ended! This planet shall sustain me until it has been drained of all elemental life! So Speaks Galactus!'. Cliffhangers had long been used in comics, but such a cliffhanger left readers eager for more. Issue #49 sees the Fantastic Four try and fail to negotiate with Galactus, and then fight him, but they cannot fight a literal god. Meanwhile, friend of the Four Alicia Masters treats the defeated Surfer who begins to respect humanity. Although, there are some things he had to learn - such as why humans eat. Finally, in #50, the Human Torch is sent to Galactus's ship to steal a valuable weapon called the Ultimate Nullifier while the Surfer joins the Four in attacking Galactus. The Torch gives Mr Fantastic the Nullifier which actually frightens Galactus. The Nullifier is a weapon so powerful that it can wipe out galaxies, but the weapon itself can consume the user and become out of control. Eventually, Galactus concedes 'The prize is not worth the battle', and vows to leave Earth in return for the Nullifier. However, before he goes, in punishment for betraying him Galactus creates a force field which prevents the Silver Surfer from leaving the planet - it took until the 1980s for Surfer to be freed.

Galactus was Kirby's baby, and the Silver Surfer was Lee's, so it was Kirby who decided what to do with Galactus. While Lee regularly had Silver Surfer interact with other characters, Kirby really wanted Galactus to be a one-off. If he was going to appear, he wanted it to be a monumental moment which inspired awe. Galactus's next two appearances, in Thor #134 and Daredevil ##37, were two non-speaking cameos. However, fans wanted more of Galactus, so over the years he began appearing more and more until he became a mainstay of the Marvel Universe.

Origins

Galactus's popularity meant that Kirby had to create an origin story for the 'Devourer of Worlds' in Thor #169. Galactus was once a regular humanoid called Galan from the planet Taa. The people of Taa had effectively created a paradise with no forms of inequality, disease, or trouble, but they were unable to fend off the end of their universe. As radiation started wiping out the last individuals on Taa, Galan proposed going on a last-ditch space mission to destroy the 'Cosmic Egg' which was emitting radiation. Everyone on board was killed, except for Galan. Instead, as one of the last living things in the universe, he was merged with the embodiment of his universe. Locked inside the Cosmic Egg they merged, and was reborn in a new universe which had just been created via a Big Bang. Over eons the new being slept as life evolved, and they were discovered by a Watcher called Ecce. Seeing the potential that the sleeping being had to destroy worlds Ecce went to destroy the slumbering giant, but was stopped by the other Watchers. They reminded Ecce of their purpose: to watch and not interfere. While the Watchers later realised that Galactus was a natural part of the universe, like a hurricane or volcanic eruption, Ecce still felt guilt over his inaction, for the billions killed by Galactus's hunger. Ecce woke the energy being, and using the newfound Cosmic Eternal, (the literal power of the universe itself), it constructed a suit to contain its immense energy, and went back to sleep. That is, until eons later when the Cosmic Egg was accidentally attacked in a war. A newly awakened and hungry Galactus wiped out a nearby fleet as easily as someone swats a fly, and fed on their homeworld of Archeopia. Using the energy of the Cosmic Eternal he created an immense ship named Taa II to inhabit as he swept through the cosmos.

Taa II

There was some mortal still left within Galactus, but he also needed energy. The immense power of the Cosmic Egg needed an immense number of kilocalories to sustain itself. Not wanting to repeat the fate of Archeopia he consumed lifeless planets, only for them to not give him the sustenance which he needed. Using his cosmic powers he easily shut off that aspect of his mind. Eventually, Galactus arrived on the planet of Zenn-La, much like his own Taa, in Silver Surfer #1. A brilliant scientist called Norrin Radd pleaded with Galactus to spare Zenn-La arguing 'for even ants have a right to live'. Galactus, instead, gives us a good insight into the psychology of a force of nature. 'In order to live Galactus must have energy which only a healthy planet can provide. If some must fall, so that Galactus may endure... it is lamentable'. Galactus does not consume out of malice or hatred. Instead he consumes because he has to. Radd managed, however, to strike a deal. In return for becoming his herald and scouting out planets, Galactus would spare Zenn-La. Galactus can do virtually anything - even resurrect the dead. With his power he turned Norrin Radd into a virtually mortal being known as the Silver Surfer. Norrin initially took Galactus to lifeless planets, however Galactus eradicated the Surfer's empathy so he would seek out planets with life.

Other stories

Galactus's popularity has meant he has appeared in lots of stories, as is expected from a Lee-Kirby creation. It is interesting to see the evolution of the character over the years. Although Galactus has always been presented as being above concepts of good and evil, and still is seen as a villain, over the years comics have presented the World Devourer in different lights. In several Fantastic Four stories in the early-1980s we find out that Galactus does feel remorse over his consuming of worlds, he just cannot help himself. In the Secret Wars event of 1984 and 1985 Galactus played an important role. Another god-like being, (Marvel has a lot), called the Beyonder was intrigued by the concept of powered individuals, and wanted to see the ultimate battle between good and evil. Creating a planet known as 'Battleworld' he took heroes and villains to duke it out - whichever side won would get a wish. This story introduced many new concepts and characters: the villain Titania, the new Spider-Woman, Spider-Man's black suit (giving rise to Venom), and Magneto as a grey hero. Galactus was also brought in on the side of evil, but he declared himself neutral in the battle. The heroes had an issue, how could they defeat Galactus, who could anything, without the Ultimate Nullifier? Meanwhile, Dr Doom had a plan. While the other villains wanted to just fight the heroes, Doom wanted the power of the Beyonder. Why settle for a wish, when with the Beyonder's power you could get whatever you wished? To get the Beyonder's power, he needed that of Galactus, and that is easier said than done. Throughout Secret Wars Galactus literally wipes out Doom's plots with little effort, although the villain ended up obtaining the powers of Beyonder.

Galactus and Gah Lak Tus

At the end of Age of Ultron (2013) a series of missions to change time in order to stop Ultron rising to power weakened the fabric of reality. This resulted in Galactus falling into the Ultimate Universe. In the early-2000s Marvel created the Ultimate line of comics which aimed to reboot the Marvel Universe without directly impacting the mainstream comics. The Ultimate version of Galactus was not a god-like being, but instead a hivemind of city-sized robots called Gah Lak Tus. Created by the ancient Kree to 'purify' the universe, i.e. kill their enemies, it became out of control having the aim to wipe out all life in the universe. Gah Lak Tus was fighting in the Chitauri-Kree War when Galactus fell into the Ultimate Universe. Unexpectedly, Gah Lak Tus merged with Galactus forming a greater, united being; some of the robots were even used as new heralds. When he attacked that universe's version of Earth he was trapped in an in-between dimension where no life exists called the Negative Zone. As expected in comics, Galactus wasn't left for too long to starve in the Negative Zone and was eventually returned to his original self. Recently, Galactus crashed on Asgard after seeing a vision that Thor would kill him - to avoid this he converted Thor into his herald, the Herald of Thunder...

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Comics Explained: Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan)

At D23 this year Disney announced a wide range of upcoming movies and TV shows, and, in regards to comics, I am most excited for seeing the TV debut of Kamala Khan, the most recent Ms. Marvel. Kamala was introduced formally in 2014 as part of Marvel's attempts to diversify its comics line, and she has been well received by both critics and fans. Out of the newly introduced characters, Kamala is my personal favourite, and it is unsurprising that she is getting her own TV series.

Comic Origins

Kamala's first appearance alongside Captain Marvel

Kamala was created by G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona, but Marvel editor Sana Amanat played a great role in the character's creation. As the daughter of Pakistani immigrants to the United States the idea of Ms. Marvel came to the Marvel team when she and fellow editor Stephen Wacker were discussing her childhood. Consequently, and possibly contributing why she is such a good character, Kamala Khan reflects a lot of Sana's teenage years. Her design aimed to blend Carol Ann Danvers's present costume, the original Ms. Marvel and current Captain Marvel, her classic costume, and a shalwar kameez. Further connecting her to Carol Ann Danvers she debuted in Captain Marvel #14 in an unnamed cameo watching Captain Marvel fight, but she made her proper debut in All-New Marvel NOW! Point One #1. Kamala was born to Pakistani parents in Jersey City, and grew up close to two friends who were also children of immigrants - Nakia Bahadir and Bruno Carrelli. Due to her 'nerdy' interests and strict parents, made worse by being the daughter of immigrants thanks to xenophobia, she regularly faced ostracism. However, her love for superheroes gave her hope, but her favourite was Carol Ann Danvers who had recently adopted the moniker of Captain Marvel.

In Ms. Marvel Vol. 3 #1 Kamala gained her powers and became a superhero. Tired of being left out she decided to sneak out and attend a popular party, but her 'friends' used it as an excuse to mock her. Upset she set off home just as a world changing event took place. Showing how the movements of gods, aliens, and heroes have such an impact on ordinary people Kamala gained her powers thanks to Thanos and the Inhumans in the Infinity story. Thanos attacked the Inhuman base on the Moon with the intention of reclaiming, and most likely murdering, his son, but he was opposed by the Inhumans and Earth's heroes. A bit of backstory about the Inhumans is needed here. The Inhumans are a species closely related to humans, thousands and thousands of years ago the Kree experimented on humans giving some of them superpowers - the experimented on humans became the Inhumans. The Inhumans also had access to the Terrigen Mists, mists which can give individuals superpowers, and as a right of passage young Inhumans enter the mists to undergo 'Terrigenesis' giving them powers. During Thanos's invasion the leader of the Inhumans, Black Bolt, deployed the Terrigen Bomb to destroy Thanos. Instead it destroyed his city and the mists spread across Earth causing humans with latent Inhuman genes to undergo Terrigenesis. This is what happened to Kamala. A Terrigen Cocoon formed around her, and she saw visions of her three favourite heroes: Captain America, Iron Man, and Captain Marvel. Talking with the visions she stated that wanted to be like the 'beautiful and awesome and butt-kicking and less complicated' Captain Marvel. When the mists cleared she found she was wearing a version of Marvel's costume. When trying to come to terms with what happened her bullying friends fell into a river and drowned, and Kamala went to rescue them realising that she had powers. She could drastically enlarge, shrink, or stretch her body, so she used it to save her friends becoming a hero.

Becoming Ms. Marvel

Kamala and the Inventor

In issue three, while visiting Bruno at her local convenience store, robots attacked and she was shot, but found out that she had healing powers. This started Kamala's surreal and insane stories after Bruno revealed the attack was done by his younger brother working for a mysterious person called 'the Inventor'. Making a costume inspired by her favourite hero she set out to use her powers to stop the Inventor who turned out to be a human-cockatiel hybrid straight out of The Island of Dr. Moreau. The Inventor had been creating robots and animal experiments, including his monstrous alligators called 'megagators', to wreck havoc on New York. Kamala managed to learn the backstory of the Inventor. A scientist called Gregory Knox wanted to clone Thomas Edison, because reasons, but his pet cockatiel got in the way so a bird-human hybrid was created. Naturally it became an evil genius. In her challenges against the Inventor she encountered Wolverine who was searching for a missing school girl, and he decided to help her fight the Inventor. The Inhumans on Earth also sent their giant dog Lockjaw to keep an eye on the young hero, and the two quickly warmed to one another. Using Lockjaw's ability to teleport to find out how a bird-man could generate enough energy to power his many robots: he was kidnapping teenagers and using their bodies to power them, including her friend Nakia. Her final battle with the Inventor saw her shrinking into the scientist's giant robot, almost being killed by the robot's electro-magnetic wave (which destabilises her body), and the grateful teenagers helping her defeat the robot and freeing a captured Lockjaw. 

I don't want to go over too many stories that Ms. Marvel has appeared in, because I don't want to spoil any too much. They are all fun and well-written so I would recommend reading them in person. Among them include stopping Loki during a Valentine's Day party at her school; fighting against an Inhuman coup who wanted the Inhumans to rule over humanity; helping fight during the 'Incursion' when different universes started smashing against one another; and eventually joining the Avengers. In her journeys she encountered many of the other new and young heroes, such as the new Nova and Miles Morales, the new Spider-Man, at a school science competition. Then the Second Superhuman Civil War broke out. A mutant called Ulysses had the ability to see into the near future, specifically when crimes or disasters were going to happen. The superheroes became divided about Ulysses's power: some, like Captain Marvel and She-Hulk, wanted to use his power to stop crimes before they happened a la Minority Reporty, whereas others, like Iron Man and Captain America, still subscribed to 'innocent until proven guilty' and that people were only guilty when they commit a crime. Things could possibly change between the vision and the event. The Civil War challenged Kamala's views and her loyalty to Captain Marvel. When Ulysses predicted that Bruce Banner would turn into the Hulk and destroy significant parts of Times Square a team was sent to calm him, but Hawkeye unexpectedly, and accidentally, killed a calm Banner. Kamala doubted herself, and had to be comforted by Miles and Nova, but the war began escalating. As Bruno lost his hand thanks to the war, and decided to go to Wakanda possibly never seeing Kamala again, she left Captain Marvel's side. Cutting a long story short, thanks to the breaking of Tony Stark's back by Carol Ann Danvers it caused Ms. Marvel to become fully distanced from the Avengers.

Forming the Champions

The Champions: Cyclops, Hulk, Ms. Marvel, Spider-Man, Nova, and Viv

Following the aftermath of the Civil War Kamala had come into contact with many of the other new young superheroes. Leaving the Avengers she, Nova, and Miles formed their own group: the Champions. They were soon joined by Amadeous Cho, the new Hulk, the Vision's daughter Viv, and a time-displaced young Cyclops (the reason for this is stupidly confusing). One of my favourite panels is when the old Nova meets the Champions after being away for years, and is confused about the new heroes. He got confused that Kamala is now Ms. Marvel, and that Carol Danvers is Captain Marvel, and states 'I hate every word that you've just said' when Cyclops told him that he is a past version of the adult Cyclops taken from an alternate past by a time-travelling Beast. The Champions continued many of the weird and wacky adventures which makes it a really good read, as a result I won't go into too much detail as I don't want to spoil anything. Among them include fighting the Atlantean Navy, fought a sheriff causing hate crimes in his town, and helped fight Hydra during their takeover of the US in the Secret Empire event. Kamala is still a member of the team, and when Cyclops decided to leave when the team expanded he felt comfortable to tell Kamala in person - the only person he told in person.

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Comics Explained: The Skrulls

The Skrulls have been present in Marvel comics since the very start of the Lee-Kirby run. Since then they have remained a present force in Marvel's cosmology, and have managed to make many non-comic appearances, including the recently released Captain Marvel. As the Skrulls have appeared so regularly in comics we cannot go through every appearance, so we'll go over the basics and some stories which are worth reading.

Comic Origins

The Skrulls were some of the earliest parts of the Marvel Universe to be introduced - they, at times barely, predate the debut of the Hulk, Spider-Man, Dr Doom, and Thor. The Skrulls debuted in The Fantastic Four #2 which was released in January 1962. Paranoia and fear of infiltration were gripping the United States at the time - in 1956 the famous sci-fi movie The Invasion of the Body Snatchers was released - and the Skrulls reflected that fear. Skrulls could shape-shift and take the appearance of anyone, or anything. The Fantastic Four #2 opens with members of the team committing various crimes as another version of the team listens in horror from a remote lodge. The crime-committing team are revealed to be members of a reptilian race known as the Skrulls - with the Fantastic Four being the only super-powered individuals they offer the greatest threat to the invading Skrulls. By committing crimes disguised as the Fantastic Four the invading Skrulls hope for Earth to lose faith in the heroes. Instead, the Fantastic Four manage to capture the Skrulls and using comic books, in reality panels from Marvel's own Strange Tales and Journey Into Mystery, convince the Skrulls that Earth actually has many defenders. With their plan thwarted Mr Fantastic hypnotises three of the Skrulls into thinking that they were cows as the last one left to tell the Skrull mothership what had happened.

History of the Skrulls

The Skrulls in their debut

A common criticism of the sci-fi genre is that all the alien species are humanoids - Marvel has a loophole to explain this. A species of humanoid aliens called Xorrians spread their DNA millions of years ago which caused humanoid species to evolve across the universe. One of those planets Xorrian DNA was spread to was Skrullos in the Andromeda galaxy which would become the Skrull homeworld. The Xorrians would not be the only alien species to impact the evolution of the Skrulls. There is a race of god-like beings known as the Celestials who travelled the universe performing genetic experiments on the species they found - their experiments on Earth are why people can develop superpowers instead of just dying when exposed to radiation. Their experiments on Skrullos lead to the creation of three branches of the Skrull species: the Prime or Latent Skrulls, the unmodified Skrulls; the Deviant, the shape-shifters; and the Eternals, given superpowers and longevity. A war broke out between the three branches and the Deviants ended up wiping out the other two branches. Following the war the Skrulls began advancing their technology and formed a centralised state under the rule of a monarch. However, as the Skrulls began expanding off of Skrullos they started abandoning their initial violent ways. Upon arriving on new planets which were already inhabited they were happy to share their technology with other species. That is until they arrived on Hala. Hala was inhabited by two intelligent species - the blue-skinned humanoid Kree and the tree-like Cotati. Fearing that granting both the technology would lead to conflict the Skrulls devised a test: each would be dropped on a barren moon and had a year to do something fantastic. The Kree, on Earth's moon, built a great city while the Cotati grew a great forest. The Cotati was chosen enraging the Kree who massacred the Skrull party, including the emperor, and the Cotati. Skrull technology was reverse-engineered and the Kree formed their own empire to rival the Skrull Empire. An endless war began and the Skrulls lost their peaceful ways once more - they would conquer worlds now.

Kree-Skrull War

The periodic arrival of the Skrulls and Kree to Earth in the past were part of a wider war where Earth was caught in the crossfire. In a story beginning in 1971 by Roy Thomas we finally got to see the Kree-Skrull War in action. Thomas got the idea from This Island Earth and described it as 'apacious, galaxy-spanning races ... would be at war in the far reaches of space, and that their conflict would be threatening to spill over onto the Earth, turning our planet into the cosmic equivalent of some Pacific island during World War II.' Earth was a beachhead that both empires wanted in order to easier fight their opponents. Beginning in Avengers #89 when the Kree Captain Marvel returns to Earth we found out that a leading member of the Kree Empire, Ronan the Accuser, had seized control of the empire and aimed to fully bring the war to Earth. Ronan wanted Marvel assassinated for insubordination and planned to 'devolve' Earth - that way it would be no threat to the Kree and they could use it as a way to battle the Skrulls. The Avengers manage to fight off Ronan and the Kree, but some are attacked by cows which turn out to be the same cows who originally impersonated the Fantastic Four. In The Avengers #97 the Kree-Skrull War came to an end. The Kree Supreme Intelligence, a quasi-AI that once ruled the Kree Empire, gave friend of both Captain Marvel and the Hulk Rick Jones amazing powers which immobilised the space fleets of both empires. Unable to fight the sides stopped fighting. However, the Kree and Skrulls would occasionally restart their war after.

Secret Invasion

In 2008 we saw a story where the Skrulls had fully infiltrated Earth in a story by the fantastic Brian Michael Bendis and Leinil Francis Yu. This followed a series of story arcs which had already ruptured the superhero community - the Avengers had been disassembled, the Civil War had forced half the community underground, supervillains were gathering legal power through a team called the Thunderbolts, and most of the mutant population had lost their powers. During the Kree-Skrull War the Skrulls had gathered the DNA of major heroes as a Skrull diaspora emerged. Princess Veranke and her followers had been exiled from the Throneworld after predicting the planet's destruction; Galactus the World-Eater destroyed the Throneworld leaving Veranke as empress. Ninja Elektra was killed revealing that she was really a Skrull, and as Hank Pym and Mr Fantastic were performing an autopsy it turned out Pym was a Skrull who then attacked Fantastic. No hero or villain could tell if their allies were a Skrull or not. Vernake herself had taken over the identity of Spider-Woman and used that to undermine the Avengers. Skrull infiltration allowed simultaneous attacks on the S.H.I.E.L.D Helicarrier, the Raft (the prison for supervillains), the base of the Thunderbolts, and the Baxter Building (the HQ of the Fantastic Four). During the final battle the Wasp is killed and tensions arise about who is fighting who. Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin, went almost insane and relished the killing of several Skrulls who attempted to turn into Spider-Man. Using a weapon stolen from Deadpool Osborn shot and killed Veranke ending the invasion. The aftermath was not pleasant. S.H.I.E.L.D was dissolved, and a new organisation called HAMMER was formed under Osborn's rule. He formed his own version of the Avengers as the regular heroes went underground and he began solidifying his rule.

Some Skrulls

Super Skrull

The first Super Skrull was Kl'rt who debuted in Fantastic Four #18. He was a fierce Skrull warrior and Emperor Dorrek wanted him to battle the Fantastic Four after their earlier defeat. The Skrulls were adept at genetic manipulation so they gave Kl'rt new powers - the powers of the Fantastic Four. He managed to hold back the Fantastic Four, using their own powers against them, until Mr Fantastic realised that Super Skrull's powers were being augmented by an energy beam from the Skrull Empire. Invisible Woman managed to place a device on him disrupting the beam which stripped him of his powers. Since then Super Skrull has been a regular in Marvel and in Infinity #6 was even crowned emperor. Kl'rt has not been the only Super Skrull - any Skrull with modified powers has been classed as a 'Super Skrull'. For example, Veranke was a Super Skrull as she had been modified to also have Spider-Woman's powers - Skrulls normally cannot replicate superpowers.

Lyja

Lyja 'officially' debuted in 1991's Fantastic Four #357 but she technically appeared a lot earlier. Lyja was a female Skrull who impersonated the Thing's girlfriend, Alicia Masters, who then fell in love with, and married, the Human Torch. When her identity was revealed she decided to help the Fantastic Four save Alicia Masters from Skrull captivity and was willing to sacrifice herself to do so. Lyja and the Human Torch would have an off-and-on relationship until Secret Invasion. Due to her knowledge of the Fantastic Four she was tasked with eliminating them before the invasion began. As she had loved the Fantastic Four she refused to bomb the place, hence it was sent to a dimension to the Negative Zone instead. She travelled there as well and helped those trapped inside return to their regular universe. However, she wanted to remain in the Negative Zone to find who she was, and that was the last we have seen of her.

Talos

As Talos appears in the new Captain Marvel it seems right that we mention him in our section on notable Skrulls. Talos debuted in The Incredible Hulk #418 in 1994 and is unique among Skrulls. Thanks to a birth defect he was unable to change shape which would normally force him into a life of discrimination and prejudice. Talos made up for his inability to shape-shift by augmenting his body with machinery and earning a reputation for his brutal fighting earning him the title of Talos the Untamed. However, during the war against the Kree he was captured and he refused to commit ritual suicide vowing that he would only die in battle - the other Skrull disagreed, thought him dishonoured, and called him Talos the Tamed. Talos sought a new way to regain his honour and thought that by besting the Hulk he would regain his honour. However, the Hulk, at this stage, was intelligent and refused to fight and kill Talos - he even pretended to surrender so he wouldn't have to badly hurt Talos. The Skrull left outraged only to find that, as the Hulk refused to fight him, he had regained his honour. Since 1994 Talos has made a few small appearances here and there.

Reading Recommendations

Here are a few reading recommendations if you want stories featuring the Skrulls:

-The Fantastic Four #2

-The Fantastic Four #18

-The Fantastic Four #357

-The Avengers #89-97 - the Kree-Skrull War

-Skrull Kill Krew - a story where humans drank milk from the Skrull cows giving them superpowers and a desire to wipe out Skrull spies

-New Avengers #40 - where Spider-Woman is revealed to be a Skrull

-Secret Invasion

Thank you for reading and I hope you found it interesting. For future blog updates please see our Facebook or catch me on Twitter @LewisTwiby.

Comics Explained: Mysterio

Mysterio in Spider-Man/Deadpool #2

One of Spider-Man's major, and memorial, villains Mysterio is a prime choice for the upcoming Spider-Man: Far From Home. Once ranked the eight-fifth greatest comic book villain by IGN he has been a recurring foe for New York based superheroes. Today we'll be looking at some memorial moments from the main Mysterio's appearances (there has been more than one Mysterio) to see why he is such a high-regarded Spider-Man foe.

Real-World Origins

The Amazing Spider-Man #13

As can be expected Mysterio first appeared in a Spider-Man comic: The Amazing Spider-Man #13 from 1964. That year was a big year for Spider-Man seeing the introduction of: Electro, the Green Goblin, Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio, and the Sinister Six. Like most of Spider-Man's comics he was created by the Steve Ditko-Stan Lee partnership; quite likely Ditko was more behind Mysterio. Ditko was very much interested in surreal characters and imagery which Mysterio fits perfectly. Evidentally Ditko was proud of creating Mysterio stating on the front cover: We've done it! We've created the greatest villain of all for 'ol Spidey! However, Mysterio's first appearance was later retconned to the earlier The Amazing Spider-Man #2 - in this story a villain called the Tinkerer had used realistic alien costumes and props as a way to take control of New York. This was retconned so Mysterio was the one who made the realistic aliens.

Origins

An example of Mysterio's powers in Amazing Spider-Man #66-67

Mysterio, Quentin Beck, was a special-effects master and stunt-actor from Hollywood but wanted to be so much more. Unfortunately for Beck, he lacked the talent to be an actor, and lacked the patience to be a director his attempts at fame were snatched from him. Jokingly, a friend suggested that to become famous quickly you had to be a costumed superhero, however, Beck realised that with his skills at special effects he could become a villain. Developing his famous fish-bowl helmet, a hallucinogenic gas, and state-of-the-art robotics he moved to New York to see if he could take down, and then replace, Spider-Man. After helping the Tinkerer he decided to adopt his own identity - Mysterio. In Amazing Spider-Man #13 reports emerged that Spider-Man had been robbing establishments leading Peter Parker to fear that he had developed a disorder at the worst time possible: Aunt May was struggling to find money to cover a mortgage payment. Mysterio appeared at the Daily Bugle in a puff of smoke declaring that he is a new hero aiming to bring down Spider-Man, and as he left in another puff of smoke a note appeared challenging Spider-Man to a duel on Brooklyn Bridge. Spider-Man accepted but was easily defeated by Mysterio's hallucinogenic abilities, gadgets, and a seeming ability to replicate Spider-Man's powers. Heralded as a hero Mysterio agreed to a publicity shoot at the Bugle where Parker managed to place a tracker on the new 'hero'. Spider-Man tracked him to his base where he found out that Mysterio was the true culprit - the two fought again after Spider-Man managed to record Beck's confession, and this time he used his spider-senses to counteract Mysterio's gas. 

Mysterio reappeared later that year in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 as one of the founding members of the Sinister Six - in fact Mysterio coined their team name. Dr Octopus realised that alone he could not defeat Spider-Man, but united with other villains they would be able to beat him so he brought together five other villains - the Vulture, Mysterio, Kraven the Hunter, Sandman, and Electro. Octopus would kidnap Bugle reporter Betty Brant, whom he knew was close to Spider-Man, and Aunt May who was visiting her - the other five villains would distract Spider-Man and, in theory, wear him down. Mysterio was the fourth villain that Spider-Man fought - he built robots versions of the X-Men to battle Spider-Man. However, the robots were defeated by Spider-Man, Mysterio was defeated, and Spider-Man went on to defeat the last two members of the Sinister Six.

Other Appearances

Mysterio's usage of gadgets and the possibility for surreal stories thanks to his hallucinogenic gas made Mysterio a popular character throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Spider-Man replaced the Fantastic Four as Marvel's big publication so Mysterio went from a major Spider-Man villain to a major Marvel villain. One unique storyline was the introduction of Mysterio's alternate life as Dr. Ludwig Reinhart; Mysterio was also a skilled hypnotist which helped with his mind-altering techniques. In Amazing Spider-Man #24 Peter Parker overheard Dr Reinhart telling J. Jonah Jameson that Spider-Man will eventually develop a split-personality: the spider and human half would inevitably clash. When Peter changed into Spider-Man he suddenly saw Dr Octopus, Vulture, and Sandman who disappear just as quickly as they appeared. Fearing these visions might lead him to attacking civilian he decided to finally see Reinhart for help, however, when he arrived the doctor's house had the room flipped upside down. During the consultancy visions of his enemies kept appearing so Reinhart starts convincing him to remove his mask. Jameson, and Parker's bully but Spider-Man admirer Flash, realised that something was up and broke into the house revealing that the furniture was actually nailed to the ceiling. Tackling Reinhart they revealed that it was really Mysterio underneath a realistic face mask.

Mysterio in The Amazing Spider-Man 

There are other interesting stories featuring Mysterio's surreal powers. My personal favourite in in The Amazing Spider-Man #66-67 where he used his hypnotic powers and hallucinogenic gas to convince Spider-Man that he was only six inches high! However, other times Mysterio went into dark territory in order to mentally break Spider-Man, including: faking his own death, faking Aunt May's death, and convincing Spider-Man that his actions caused the death of a bystander. Spider-Man always came out on top with Mysterio's image of a serious threat being dented - especially as other villains, like Green Goblin, had managed to hurt Spider-Man so much more. His reputation was entirely destroyed with Power Pack #55. The Power Pack are a superhero team of children, and when their building was seemingly haunted it turned out that Mysterio was causing it as part of a retail scheme. Being defeated by literal children completely destroyed his reputation until the late-1990s when Marvel wrote a dark tale...

Guardian Devil

Daredevil Vol. 2 #7

In the late-1990s, with Marvel going bankrupt thanks to the comic book crash, Marvel experimented with several new lines of comics. One such was Marvel Knights; instead of focusing on long-term stories Marvel Knights would focus on stand-alone stories. One of the characters to be brought into Marvel Knights was Daredevil which with Daredevil Vol. 2 #1-8 brought two legendary figures together. The first was comic book fan and movie director Kevin Smith, of Clerks and Mallrats fame, and legendary artist Joe Quesada who had worked on everything from Batman to Spider-Man. Marvel Knights proved to be so successful that Quesada became Marvel's editor-in-chief. Anyway, in Daredevil #1 he is given a baby born through immaculate conception, and is told that the child is the Anti-Christ by a man called Nicholas Macabes - something deeply troubling for the recently devout Catholic Matt Murdock. Macabes left a crucifix for Matt, but his life started falling apart soon after. His former lover Karen Page discovered that she was HIV-positive from her time in the porn industry and addicted to drugs, his best friend Foggy Nelson is accused of murdering a woman he was having an affair with, and Matt started becoming uncontrollably violent when people suggested that the infant was not the Anti-Christ. Desperate for help he sought Dr Strange who informed him that the crucifix was emitting a drug, and that the child was not a demon (albeit with the help of the demon lord Mephisto). However, the church where he left the baby was soon attacked by the assassin Bullseye who killed Karen to get to the baby. Devastated, Daredevil almost commit suicide but he opted to track Macabes instead who turned out to be Mysterio. After being released early from prison due to a brain tumour caused by his equipment he decided to destroy a hero. He wanted to destroy Spider-Man but opted against it because he incorrectly believed that Spider-Man was a clone - the Clone saga was confusing even for Marvel characters. Buying information on Daredevil from the Kingpin he had a girl artificially inseminated without her knowing, faked Karen's test, drugged Foggy, and drugged Matt. He then wanted Matt to kill him for what he had done, but Matt refused calling it a 'B-movie plan' and that Kingpin had already attempted to drive him insane. Mysterio opted to copy Kraven - after he had defeated Spider-Man he had killed himself - and killed himself. The dark, and very controversial story which Marvel has tried to forget, did have a happy ending - the baby went to live with a loving family.

The Other Mysterios

The Second Mysterio

In 1975 with The Amazing Spider-Man #141-142 a second Mysterio was introduced. After Quentin Beck seemingly died in an attempt to escape prison J. Jonah Jameson decided to use it to bring down Spider-Man. Hiring a stunt-man called Daniel Berkhart, who had worked with the original, and obtaining the original suit he wanted Berkhart to 'haunt' Spider-Man as the ghost of Beck. However, Spider-Man soon defeated the second Mysterio who, possibly, lied about being given Beck's costume and decided to get revenge for his predecessor's imprisonment. The comic ended with Berkhart demanding Jameson get him a lawyer or he would tell the police about the editor's involvement - something writers forgot about and still haven't mentioned since. After the original's actual death Mysterio kept appearing and fans wondered, is it Berkhart? It has since been confirmed that Berkhart was the second Mysterio, however, he also took up the mantle of Jack O'Lantern. Unfortunately for Berkhart, the newest Jack O'Lantern in 2012's Venom Vol. 2 #11 said that he killed all the past Jack O'Lanterns meaning that he is likely dead. A third Mysterio, a mutant able to teleport called Francis Klum, appeared in the very controversial Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil that Men Do (due to Klum being sexually abused and then forced to be involved in drugs, all by his older brother). Like Berkhart, after his initial appearance he rarely featured in comics and was seemingly killed off. The fourth Mysterio is still nameless - an unnamed African-American man bought Mysterio's costume before changing it to become Mysterion. 

The Original's Return

The Return of the Original

In The Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #12 the original Mysterio returned back from the dead with half his head missing from his gunshot to confront the second and third Mysterios attacking Peter Parker's school. However, in The Amazing Spider-Man #618 when he re-adopted his old moniker he claimed that he had faked his death - comics can get confusing. Even more confusingly he managed to find an entrance to a parallel version of his world - Earth-1610, the Ultimate Universe. Utilising an android resembling himself he sent it into the Ultimate Universe to create a footing in the New York underworld. He even murdered the Ultimate version of Kingpin in order to take over his former territory but he was constantly defeated by the Ultimate Spider-Man - regardless of reality Spider-Man also bested him. That is, until Spider-Man was killed. This brings us onto Spider-Men.  With the Ultimate Peter Parker dead he hoped to properly muscle in on the underworld. The mainstream Peter Parker saw Mysterio up to something in his original universe, and was accidentally transported to the Ultimate Universe where he clashed with the new Spider-Man. After the initial clash, and Peter trying to understand that he's dead in the new reality, they had to deal with Mysterio. With his Spider-Man in the Ultimate Universe he planned to trap Parker there. He would have succeeded if not for his own hubris - assured of victory he briefly opened the portal to check where Parker was allowing him back through. Since then Mysterio has remained a constant villain against Spider-Man.

Beck did retire for some time. After he was defeated by both Spider-Man and Deadpool in 2016's Spider-Man/Deadpool #5 he decided to retire to Las Vegas stating: I'm done. Mysterio is dead, and may he rot in Hell. God knows I've done it before. His retirement didn't last long. In Ben Reilly: Scarlet Spider he was caught up in a plot where his daughter planned to sacrifice him in order to obtain the power of Cyttorak - a demon/god entity. Such a popular villain of Marvel's most popular hero could not stay retired permanently though. The story is still ongoing, it only started mid-2018, but we may finally get to see who revived Mysterio from the grave. The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 5 #1 showed just how powerful Mysterio is: he managed to create images of an alien invasion so convincing that every major hero came out to fight them. He wanted to be more than just a street-level villain constantly beaten by Spider-Man - after all he had almost took over the New York of a parallel reality - and wanted to be treated in the same light as a villain like Dr Doom. His lawyer, the Beetle a.k.a Janice Lincoln, told him to claim insanity. He was only convinced when he saw his master in the corner...

Thank you for reading and I hope you found it interesting. For future blog updates please see our Facebook or catch me on Twitter @LewisTwiby.

Comics Explained: Spider-Man (Miles Morales)

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse has brought my favourite version of Spider-Man to the attention of the mainstream public: Miles Morales. Morales didn't first appear in the mainstream Marvel Universe (Earth-616) but instead the 'Ultimate' Universe (Earth-1610) - something we'll explain in a bit. Miles offered a new insight into the teenage hero world being an Afro-Latino teen struggling to find his identity in the shadow of the first Spider-Man. He became so popular that later he was sent to the mainstream universe and has featured heavily in two of Marvel's recent major events - Civil War II and Secret Empire. 

Background

To understand Miles we really need to understand the Ultimate Universe. Comic books for a long time have played around with alternate realities and Marvel had constructed an in-depth system to identify each one - the mainstream one was given the number 616. In the late-1990s comic books were failing and many companies were going bust - which you can read about here - and Marvel was close to collapsing. Marvel wanted to make its comics easier to get into, to attract new readers, but they were also fearful that they would alienate current readers. As a result, the Ultimate comics were made - a separate comic series that would update or reinterpret characters or stories. Even then, it was not clear if Ultimate would save Marvel; Brian Michael Bendis, who was one of the biggest contributors to Ultimate, said 'When I got hired, I literally thought I was going to be writing one of the last — if not the last — Marvel comics'. The Ultimate comics proved popular, although not enough to entirely save Marvel, and would even inspire movies - the Marvel Cinematic Universe has taken inspiration from Ultimate just as much as the mainstream universe. After a decade the Ultimate Universe started exhibiting the same problems the mainstream comics had - confusing stories, story-arcs not paying off, and dead characters returning from the grave constantly - as well as many more. Ultimate got the reputation for being 'edgy' for the sake of it as perfectly shown in 2009's Ultimatum - it featured characters dying or killing others in needless ways with the intention to shock the reader. However, Ultimate Spider-Man largely managed to escape this trend, largely thanks to good writers like Brian Michael Bendis.

Bendis in The Death of Spider-Man decided to kill off Peter Parker, something which confused mainstream media which thought that Marvel was killing off the mainstream Parker. This would not be the end of the Ultimate Spider-Man. Bendis and Sara Pichelli, (if you look carefully you can see them mentioned in Into the Spider-Verse), decided to create a new Spider-Man - originally Parker was going to die in Ultimatum but Marvel decided last minute to spare him. The 'Obituary' for all those died on the back of the last issue even lists Spider-Man. Bendis and Pichelli decided to make this new Spider-Man Afro-Hispanic leading, particularly the conservative, media to report that Marvel was trying to be politically correct. Miles first appeared Ultimate Comics Fallout #4 and soon got his own comic line, and has since become one of Marvel's favourite heroes.

Origins

Miles' debut in Ultimate Comics Fallout #4

Miles' backstory was later explained in Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 2. Like Peter Parker he was from New York, although he was from Brooklyn, and was the son of a police officer, Jefferson Davis, and a nurse, Rio Morales, and was close to his uncle, Aaron Davis. However, Davis had criminal ties which made his parents not want their son to associate with him. After the Green Goblin was outed as being Norman Osborn and arrested his labs were broken into, but a spider hitched a ride in the thief's bag. Osborn had been trying to replicate the formula which gave Spider-Man his spider powers, and this mutated spider happened to be accidentally stolen by Aaron. When Miles visited Aaron the spider bit him giving him the powers of Spider-Man and a few extra powers - Miles can camouflage and have a 'venom' strike. However, Miles doesn't want to be a superhero - as a 13-year old he felt it was too much responsibility. Also, his father has a distrust of superheroes seeing them as unregulated vigilantes. That is until, after two months of having his powers, he sees Peter Parker dying protecting his family from the Sinister Six under the Green Goblin. 

Inspired by his friend, Ganke, and after talking to Gwen Stacy Miles decided to become Spider-Man but was routinely criticised for taking advantage of the image of the recently dead Parker. The struggling Miles is confronted and arrested by Spider-Woman who took him to Nick Fury. Fury revealed how he knew all about Miles' family and his uncle's criminal history in Ultimate Spider-Man #5, but as he helped Fury defeat Electro he decided to let Miles go with a gift: a black and red Spider-Man suit. As he started to become his own Spider-Man he met someone special: Peter Parker. In 2012's Spider-Men when fighting Mysterio mainstream Parker accidentally was transported to the Ultimate reality where he encounters Miles. The story sees Parker partially training Miles and also Parker dealing seeing the younger, and alive, Gwen Stacy - his girlfriend who was murdered by Green Goblin. At the end as Parker went to his own universe he gave Miles his blessing and later decided to look up his reality's version of Miles only to be shocked - this potential plot was forgotten for five years until Spider-Men II.

Time as Spider-Man

Miles against Electro

Like Parker Miles had to deal with his superhero life clashing with his civilian life. Aaron quickly realised that Miles was the new Spider-Man in Ultimate Spider-Man #8. Like his mainstream counterpart Aaron was the Prowler but unlike his other counterpart he never converted to being a hero. Aaron needed help against the Scorpion so threatened to tell Jefferson that Miles was Spider-Man if he didn't help him. They succeeded and Prowler got hold of a suit used by the Vulture. As the two kept fighting other criminals Miles realised that Aaron was using him as an enforcer to fight more powerful opponents. He decided to confront Aaron in #12 but during an earlier battle Aaron's weapons, Shock Guantlets used by Shocker, had been damaged so during their fight it exploded killing Aaron. This would become one of the biggest character defining moments for Miles - he had to face the fact that his uncle was a villain but also deeply cared for him simultaneously. I will not go through too much of some of the other stories mostly because they are very confusing to talk about unless if I was doing a specific post on them - including a civil war in the US caused by the followers of an insane Mr Fantastic wiping out the US government, and then Captain America becoming president. It took Ultimate a decade to get just as confusing as the mainstream did in four decades.

During this civil war Jefferson had got national fame for his fight against HYDRA which brought media attention to Miles...and Spider-Man. However, Betty Brant incorrectly believed that Jefferson was Spider-Man so using her information the new Venom attacked Jefferson in #19. A battle against time began as Miles and his friends hoped to find Venom before he attacked again. Then in #22 Venom attacked the hospital where Rio worked. During the battle Miles managed to separate the symbiote from its host, (who were both then killed by the police), but unfortunately Rio was mortally wounded. In her dying breath she told him that she was proud of him but he should never tell his father. Declaring 'No More' Miles gave up his Spider-Man identity. A year passed in the Ultimate Universe where Miles refused to take up the mantle of Spider-Man again after being traumatised by his mother's death. Throughout this time he had started a relationship with the Ultimate version of Kate Bishop and had debated telling her of his past. In #25 under the request of SHIELD and Jessica Drew (who is Spider-Woman in Earth-616) convinced him to become Spider-Man once more when the Roxxon Corporation's genetic mutations escape.

Catacylsm

Miles sees the arrival of Galactus

Age of Ultron was far more extreme than the MCU's version of the event. Ultron had basically won and wiped out the world, so Wolverine and Invisible Woman travelled back to the past where Wolverine killed Hank Pym before he could make the first Ultron. This created a dystopian universe thanks to the butterfly effect so they went back in time again to stop them from killing Pym, but also to convince him to put a virus in Ultron which would stop the machine from destroying the world. However, doing so broke the time-space continuum causing beings from different realities to fall into alternate realities. Earth-616's Galactus was sent to the Ultimate reality where it began to destroy New Jersey. Miles and the Ultimates (the alternate version of the Avengers) began saving civilians and trying the fight the unstoppable Galactus. Tony Stark realised that this Galactus was from Earth-616 so he thought that enlisting the aid of 616's Reed Richards (Mr Fantastic) to help them. Then the Ultimate version of Reed Richards arrived to offer help - unlike his mainstream version Ultimate Richards had become a genocidal megalomaniac. Stark decided to send Richards accompanied by Miles, but fearing the world could end he decided to tell his father of his identity. Unfortunately, Jefferson couldn't accept Miles - he just saw the person responsible for the death of Aaron and Rio. Despite being disowned he journeyed to Earth-616 and managed to get Richards of that reality to successfully defeat Galactus. In the aftermath Miles would help found the Young Ultimates and grow closer to Parker's family.

Parker's Return

Parker's return

In Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man #1 when returning to his apartment he was surprised to find his version of Peter Parker, seemingly alive and well, in his apartment. Parker managed to briefly knock out Miles leading him to believe that he was a clone - and he found bad luck once again when Kate Bishop broke up with him after finding out that he was Spider-Man. He also found out that Green Goblin was alive and ended up encountering the villain when he went to warn Mary Jane. Parker showed up and using Miles' venom strike managed to defeat the Goblin. Peter revealed that he had woken up in a lab, returned to New York, and with Mary Jane had dug up his grave to find it was empty: he was no clone. Green Goblin soon broke out of custody, and it turned out that Miles' venom strike had increased his power, and attacked J. Jonah Jameson. Osborn had revealed that the formula which granted the powers which he and Parker had also granted 'immortality' explaining why they were now alive (because comics), before killing Jameson. The two Spider-Men once again teamed up and took down Goblin, and the two would continue as their own versions of Spider-Man. I'm going to skip over Morales' stories a bit - including one where Bishop and her family turned out to be HYDRA sleeper agents working for Dr Doom - to get to how Miles got to the mainstream reality.

Secret Wars

In 2015 Marvel decided to shake up its multiverse with Secret Wars. Two different realities would smash into one another destroying them (the 'incursions'), and for a period of eight hours the two universes existed side-by-side. After the two realities were destroyed the ricochets from the destruction would accelerate the rate of impact until the multiverse was entirely destroyed. However, if one universe was destroyed as they crashed into one another the destruction could be averted. Eventually, Earth-616 and Earth-1610 began to crash into one another so the Reed Richards of both worlds created vessels to survive the apocalypse - 616 Reed put his friends and family inside as 1610 put his followers in his vessel. Miles accidentally entered the 1610 vessel and survived the destruction waking up in Battleworld - a universe created out of the remains of all the destroyed realities. This new reality was ruled by the omnipotent God Emperor Doom who ruthlessly crushed opposition and locked universe ending threats - including zombies from Marvel Zombies and a version of Thanos recreating the Infinity Gauntlet - behind a wall called the Shield. Miles was rescued by 616's Dr Strange who had found the vessel containing the heroes of Earth-616. Miles helped lead a revolt against Doom in the Kingdom of Manhattan, made up of different versions of Manhattan, and went with Peter to find Doom's power. They found a captured Molecule Man, a being able to warp reality and had journeyed with Doom to try and stop the first Incursion but had accidentally started it. Miles gave the starving Molecule Man a hamburger which he had in his suit from just before his reality was destroyed. As the heroes attacked Doom Molecule Man managed to grant Doom's power to Mr Fantastic who reconstructed Earth-616. 

Miles woke up in Earth-616 alongside several other alternate heroes - including the Wolverine from Old Man Logan. As Miles had given Molecule Man the burger he decided to reward Miles - his friends were taken to Earth-616, and his parents and uncle were brought over as well or resurrected. Miles quickly became accustomed to the new reality being mentored by Spider-Man, and through membership of the Avengers he became close friends with the new Nova and Ms Marvel. Meanwhile, Mr Fantastic, Invisible Woman, their kids, Molecule Man, and a few others started reforming the old realities one-by-one, including the Ultimate one. However, Miles would remain in the 616 reality.

On Earth-616

The aftermath of Civil War II

Since 2015 Miles has been a recurring character in the mainstream comics. For one, he became a major player in the, albeit rushed, Civil War II. An Inhuman arrived on the scene being able to see future crimes before they happened straight out of Minority Report. This divided the superhero community between those who wanted to use it (including Captain Marvel and She-Hulk) and those who believed it punished individuals before they committed a crime (including Captain America and Iron Man). Miles became embroiled in this when the Inhuman had a vision of him killing Captain America on Capitol Hill. After seeing a successful vision played out, where Bruce Banner was killed, Miles became fearful that his emotional issues could lead him into becoming a killer. Captain America supported Miles and the two travelled to D.C. to test fate, but this caused Captain Marvel to arrive to arrest Miles. A fight broke out between Captain America (supported by Iron Man), and Captain Marvel which resulted in Stark being paralysed, and being rescued by Miles. Disenchanted with the adult heroes Miles helped found the Champions with various young heroes.

Miles with the other Champions

Spider-Men II in 2017 finally answered the question: what is the 616 version of Miles like? The 616 version of Miles was much older than his parallel counterpart and never went down a hero route. Instead he worked for the mob and became a close associate with Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin. Miles had attempted to go straight and settle down but the untimely death of his partner, Barbara Sanchez, brought him back to Fisk. Miles had found out that Barbara was alive in a parallel universe so hired the villain Taskmaster to find her which brought him to the attention of Peter and the younger Miles. After a few battles the older Miles went to the new universe and met up with Barbara whose bar had been wrecked in a battle between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin - this turned out to be the remade Ultimate Universe. Meanwhile, the reborn Jefferson didn't resent Miles for being Spider-Man, in fact he supported his son, and decided to join SHIELD to look over him. Aaron Davis, still retaining his memories of the Ultimate reality, became the Iron Spider in Spider-Man #234 helping a new Sinister Six obtain SHIELD technology for Latveria (Doom's country). However, in #240 a note to Miles has indicated that Aaron may have abandoned his life of crime. At the start of December 2018 a new title called Miles Morales: Spider-Man has began under Saladin Ahmed and Javier Garron - it has just started as of writing but it should continue to expand Miles' history.

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